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Centre gives clean chit to Coke, Pepsi after tests
Health Minister said samples of Coke and Pepsi showed pesticide traces within permissible limits.
The government on Thursday gave the thumbs up to the cola majors by announcing that the soft drinks tested in its laboratories were “well within the safety limits prescribed for packaged drinking water”. On opposition demand, however, a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is being set up to examine the safety issue further.
Health Minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament that tests on 12 soft drinks carried out in the Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, and the Kolkata-based Central Food Laboratory “clearly show that all the 12 samples do not have pesticide residues of the high order as was alleged by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report”.
That CSE was way off the mark became apparent when the two labs confirmed that malathion — which can affects the central nervous system — was absent from all cold drink samples. The CSE report said it was 87 times over the EU limit.
The motion for setting up the JPC, will come up in the Lok Sabha on Friday. The committee will file a report before the beginning of the winter session of Parliament.
Both Coca-cola and Pepsico heads said they were happy that the “safety debate” had been put to rest. “The results reiterate what we have been saying all along: that our drinks are completely safe,” said Sanjiv Gupta, President, Coca-Cola India. “We are open to any further tests.”
“Not only do we conform to local standards but I can confidently say that our products can be exported to any part of the world,” said PepsiCo India Holdings Chairman Rajiv Bakshi.
But both Gupta and Bakshi refused to comment on the small amounts of pesticide that was found to be above EU limits in nine of the 12 samples.
“Their claim that all their products are within EU limits is not exactly correct but the fact is they are within the existing PFA standards, which are the same as the Codex standards for cold drinks,” said Health Secretary J.V.R. Prasada Rao. Codex standards are food safety standards set up by the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation and the WHO.
The government is considering introducing EU norms for water content in cold drinks from January 1, 2004, the same day they would be applicable for packaged drinking water.
CSE chief Sunita Narain said it was clear that the Centre had acted in “private interest” to clear the cola companies.
